Posts tagged: NBA

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Donald Sloan from the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League for the remainder of the 2011-12 season, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today. The signing of Sloan marks the 34th GATORADE Call-Up of the 2011-12 season.

In eight games (all starts), Sloan has averaged 22.8 points on .496 shooting, 5.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 38.6 minutes per game with the BayHawks. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound guard from Texas A&M has appeared in eight NBA games this season, playing five games for the Atlanta Hawks and three games for the New Orleans Hornets. In eight NBA games, Sloan averaged 2.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.6 assists in 7.4 minutes per game.

The 24-year-old spent the 2010-11 season with the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League, playing in 49 games (33 starts) and posting averages of 10.7 points on .483 shooting, 3.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 27.7 minutes per game.

Kyrie Irving was named today as the NBA’s Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in the month of February.

Irving played in 10 games during February and averaged 19.3 points on .422 shooting, 3.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 35.3 minutes per game. During the month, he ranked 1st in scoring, three-point percentage, free throw percentage and assists among Eastern Conference rookies. Irving scored 20 or more points in six of 10 games (the most 20-point games by a rookie in the month) and shot at least .500 from the field four times in games played in February. Irving also averaged 6.8 points per fourth quarter in the month, which was the most among all Eastern Conference rookies.

RotM

For the month, Irving shot 41-43 (.953) from the free throw line and has currently made 31 consecutive free throws. His .953 free throw percentage is the highest by a rookie in a month since Chauncey Billups set an NBA rookie record by going 41 for 41 in March 1998 (minimum 40 free throw attempts).

Irving notched a game-high tying 23 points, including 5-5 from the foul line, in 39 minutes against Sacramento on Feb. 19. Trailing by one with 2.9 seconds remaining, Irving knocked down two free throws to win the game. Irving scored 25 points on 8-15 (.533) shooting to go along with eight assists in 39 minutes of work against the Pistons on Feb. 21. In the fourth quarter, Irving scored 17 points on 6-9 (.667) shooting, including 3-3 from three-point range. The 6-foot-3 rookie set a career high in assists with 11, with only two turnovers against the Hornets on Feb. 22.

Kyrie played absolutely lights out on Friday during the rookie-sophomore Rising Stars Game.

Irving was a perfect 8 for 8 from beyond the arc and finished with 34 points, helping Team Chuck beat Team Shaq 146-133 in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday.

Irving said he couldn’t remember being so hot from the field.

“No, it’s never occurred in my career,” he said. “You know, it’s kind of unfortunate that it comes in the All-Star game. These stats don’t carry over into the season. But at the end of the day, it was still fun to get out there with those talented guys. So it was a great experience.”

CLEVELAND, OH – February 1, 2012 – Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving was named today as the NBA’s Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in the months of December and January.

Irving averaged 18.1 points on .511 shooting, 3.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 28.8 minutes per game. During the month, he ranked 1st in scoring, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage and assists among Eastern Conference rookies. Irving scored 20 or more points in 10 of 20 games and shot at least .500 from the field 12 times in games played in December and January.

Irving scored 20 points on 8-10 (.800) shooting and added three rebounds and six assists (zero turnovers) in a 115-101 win over Charlotte on Jan. 3. At Phoenix on Jan 12, a 101-90 Cavs win, Irving scored a game-high 26 points on 11-17 (.647) shooting and added three rebounds, six assists and two steals in 28 minutes. Irving dished out a career-high tying seven assists to go along with 25 points on 9-16 (.563) shooting and four rebounds in a 102-94 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Jan. 16.

The 6-foot-3 rookie scored a career-high 32 points on 12-20 (.600) shooting and added six rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes against the Nets on Jan. 27. In that game, he scored 21 points in the fourth quarter (including 17 in the final three minutes of the game) becoming the first rookie to score at least 21 points in the fourth quarter of a game since Marcus Williams of New Jersey scored 21 points in the fourth quarter on November 24, 2006. He became the first player to score 17 or more points in the final three minutes of the game since Vince Carter scored 18 points in the last three minutes for the Nets against Chicago on April 11, 2006. Against Boston on Jan. 29, Irving made the game-winning shot with 2.6 seconds left to beat the Celtics 88-87. In that game, he finished with a game-high 23 points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists in 33 minutes.

Other nominees for Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month were Detroit’s Brandon Knight, Miami’s Norris Cole and New Jersey’s MarShon Brooks.

The season starts Wednesday, here’s my advice on who and what to follow this upcoming year to keep up on your Cavs.

Websites:

RealCavsFans – The merger of “Numbers Don’t Lie” and RealCavsFans give you both a strong editorial blog and what I think is the best Cavs fan forum on the web. I am NOT a fan of CavFanatic. Great sites, I know the dudes that run it and they have a great user experience there.

via cavs.com “The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed forward Samardo (sa-MAR-doe) Samuels to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today. Per league and team policy, terms of the contract were not announced. Samuels, 21, played two seasons at Louisville before

Dunkin' Over Crocodiles

declaring for the 2010 NBA Draft, averaging 13.5 points on .549 shooting and 5.9 rebounds in 27.1 minutes in 70 games (all starts). In his sophomore and final season with the Cardinals, he led the team in scoring (15.3) and rebounding (7.0) in 29.3 minutes per game. The 6-foot-9, 260-pound rookie played in five games (three starts) with the Chicago Bulls in the 2010 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and averaged 12.6 points on .571 shooting and 7.4 rebounds per game.“